Lima, OH - The Lima Express hosted the Pee Dee Vipers of Florence, South Carolina last night in their first match up of the 2014 Premier Basketball Season.

In the first half of the game, the teams went head to head and looked like two evenly matched teams. However, in the 2nd quarter, in front of one of the biggest crowds of the season for Lima, the Vipers began to pull away and stretch out the lead outscoring Lima 32-10.

Lima tried several times to make a comeback run with a few scoring outbursts, but the athleticism and in-the-paint scoring from Pee Dee, was too much for Lima to handle.

The final score of this match up was Pee Dee 120, Lima 89.

Pee Dee was led by James Helton with 24 points, 7 assists & 7 rebounds. Lima was led by Bryant Austin with 20 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists.

Indianapolis Wins in Battle of Division Runner-Ups

By Nathan Pace

Indianapolis, IN- The Indianapolis Diesels won their final home game of the regular season Saturday night 120-113 against the Carolina Pee Dee Vipers.

The Vipers appeared to have control of the game in the first half leading 46-41 with 3:33 remaining in the second quarter. This is where the Diesels gained the advantage as they went on a 17-8 run to close out the half for a 58-54 lead.

Indianapolis would increase its lead to 87-78 at the end of the third. Carolina would reduce the deficit to 97-94 at the seven minute mark but would never regain the lead.

Five Diesels would score in double-digit figures with guard John Hart leading the way with 46 points. Hart hit seven 3-pointers on the night. Other leading scorers include Noah Douglas (24 points), Jermaine Dearman (16 points), Harry Marshall (12 points) and Chris Ames (10 points).

James Helton led the Vipers with 27.

Indianapolis moved to 10-5 on the season and became the fourth team in the PBL to reach 10 wins.

Rochester Has Big Game on National Television

Rochester, NY- The Rochester Razorsharks in their final regular season game defeated the Lynchburg Titans 161-103.

With the win Rochester now rides a 16 game winning streak as they head into the Premier Basketball League Championship Series against the undefeated (18-0) Bloomington Flex next Sunday April 6.

Rochester like they’ve done all season, played unselfish basketball which led to 41 assists for the game.

“Coach Moten stresses to us every single day in practice to do the extra pass,” Reggie Stallings said. “With the new rotation and new guys coming in we found we can win by a larger margin by sharing the ball more and more.”

Defensively the Razorsharks caused 27 Titans turnovers, 16 of which came in the first half.

Rochester got off to a fast start right off the tip as Dane Miller made a gorgeous behind the back pass to Reggie Stallings who finished the dunk.

With the game knotted at 4 apiece, Rochester went on an 11-2 run as they pulled away from the Titans and never looked back.

After the game Razorsharks head coach Lawrence Moten said, “We have a talented team and we are playing very unselfish which is leading to our success, plus the new guys coming in have done everything we’ve asked of them and playing there assigned roles.”

New comer Melvin Council led the way for Rochester in the first half of play with 11 points. The ‘Sharks had 12 different players score leading to an 81-44 lead at the break.

Lynchburg’s Jamal Francis who leads the PBL in scoring with 34.5 ppg scored just above his average with 35 points. Francis in the last matchup against the Razorsharks scored 46 points, 19 of which came from the charity stripe.

The Razorsharks had 10 different players score in double figures led by Aaron Williams and Scott Rodgers with 18 points apiece. Stallings scored 17 and Council finished with 16.

Jerice Crouch, Miller and Stallings put some extra exclamation points on the win with a number of highlight reel dunks bringing the home crowd to its feet.

“Our plan is to keep doing what we’re doing, and come together as a group defensively and bring the championship home to Rochester,” Stallings said.

The Razorsharks will now host the Bloomington Flex next weekend to tip-off the Premier Basketball League Championship Series on Sunday, April 6 at 2:00 p.m. at the Blue Cross Arena. This will mark the third consecutive season that the Flex and Razorsharks will play for the league championship.

Lima Gives Their Fans Something to Cheer About

Lima, OH - The Lima Express hosted the Erie Hurricane at home last night for the 2nd time this season. Lima was victorious in the two teams' first match up, but this game was definitely a good contest and much closer than last time when the Express won by 70.

Throughout each quarter, the game remained tight, with Lima outscoring Erie only by five points at best in quarters one through three. Lima nailed down their defense and took off offensively in the 4th quarter, outscoring Erie 37-23. The final score was Lima 128, Erie 102.

Erie was led by Jonathon Brown with 31 points & 8 rebounds. Lima was led by Bryant Austin with 34 points, 6 assists & 12 rebounds. Kyle Meyer for Lima also added 25 points and 13 rebounds in a strong effort, while Willie Tisdale contributed with 24 points and 4 assists.